(1) Field of the Invention
The present relates to an easily-dyeable resin composition to be used in a sublimation type heat-sensitive transfer process. More particularly, it relates to an easily-dyeable resin composition which can be utilized for a woven fabric to be printed by a heat transfer printing process, a plastic article, such as a film, a sheet or a lens, to be dyed by a heat-sensitive transfer dyeing process or a material to be used in a sublimation type heat-sensitive transfer recording process.
(2) Description of the Related Art
As the easily-dyeable composition to be used in the sublimation type heat-sensitive transfer process, there have been proposed a sheet composed of acrylic staple fibers treated with an alkylene carbonate and an ammonium salt, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-81,359, and a sheet composed of polyester staple fibers having an acidic group converted to an ammonium salt, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-112,494. These known compositions are dyeable with a sublimable cationic dye, and dyeing of these compositions is carried out under high-energy conditions. As the dyeable composition for a woven fabric, a methylol melamine resin composition is known. Although this composition can be dyed by the heat transfer printing method using a sublimable disperse dye, a high energy is necessary for dyeing and the color fastness of the obtained dyeing is poor.
With recent rapid developments in office automation, a color display has been widely adopted in office automation appliances such as a personal computer, word processor and office computer, and the demand for a practical utilization of the recording process using color signals has increased. Also, in the field of dry-type copying machines, the formation of color copies is urgently desired, and the sublimation type heat-sensitive transfer recording process is expected to be an excellent recording process providing hard color copies because this process is characterized in that the generation of noise is controlled, the handling, maintenance and control of a copying machine is very easy and the gradation can be easily expressed. However, the easily-dyeable material that can be used in the conventional sublimation type heat-sensitive transfer recording process as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 60-112,493 is a material dyeable with a sublimable cationic dye, and the light stability thereof is poor and a high energy is necessary for dyeing.